Once Bitten, Twice Shy
by A.VV
Summary: [KiseKuroko] Interconnected drabbles. Rating may go up. Ch7: Of course Kagami makes perfect omelets. Kise has to physically stop himself from sneering at the frozen peas. "I'll just copy his omelet cooking style."
1. Lungs

**Lungs**

The barely-there imagery began to fade, slipping in both texture and memory as Kuroko opened his eyes, the emotion he felt in his dream also dispersed. He awoke with a clean slate.

The sharp, clear light told him that it was far too early in the morning for Kise to be awake, to be leaning on his elbow over him, focused on some fixed point on Kuroko's own face. Surprise only showed itself in Kuroko's eyebrows for a second; "What's wrong?" He breathed.

Kise's scrutinizing gaze moved from the mysterious point down to Kuroko's lips, then back up to his eyes.

Kuroko realized that Kise was holding his breath, and holding his right hand, palm down, on Kuroko's chest, with a strangely firm sort of gentleness.

"Checkin' you're breathing."

Kuroko stared right back up at him.

"That's silly."

Kuroko heaved a sigh and rolled away from Kise.

As an afterthought, he added: "Please sleep."

* * *

 _Inspired by Lily's Allen's "Holding on to nothing."_

 _It's going to be hella hard to write Kise but I am excited to try. Let me know if you guys have any tips!_

 _Enjoy!_

 _xoxo_


	2. The Ugly Sweater

**The Ugly Sweater**

"What the fuck is that?" Kise asked, giggling and trying to sympathize at the same time.

Kuroko held the gray sweater at arm's length, "She's improved…"

"Momocchi _knit_ that for you?"

Kuroko glanced at Kise, worry on his face, "I guess so?"

Kise spit out a laugh, jumping to his feet and bouncing on the couch, "Oh my god—" But then saw the gleam in Kuroko's eyes. "You like it?"

"I love it," Kuroko mumbled.

Kise sighed in defeat, "Of course you do." He stared at down at Kuroko from his dramatic pose on the couch as the boy struggled to pull his arms and head through the appropriate holes, which seemed to take longer than it should have, because they looked like sleeves for a sad octopus.

Kuroko pulled through with a gasp, letting the sleeves hang down off his arms as he grabbed at the collar. Kuroko, hair powered by the static and bleary-eyed, came out looking like he had not seen the light of day in a long time.

A moment of silence passed between the two.

"It's perfect," Kuroko said.

Kise curled his bare toes into the smelly fabric; from atop the couch, he could see the light in Kuroko's eyes and the fumbling glee in his fingertips. Kise's heart thumped with adoration and contentment as he jumped off the couch, delighted to have startled Kuroko. He dove for the hem of the sweater as Kuroko's hands grabbed at his hair, only to be caught up in a moldy-gray wave of itchy sheep hair. Kise burrowed his way up Kuroko's chest tugging at the boy's hips and shoulders until his head smashed into something hard.

"Ow!" Kuroko let out a cry as Kise's head finally popped out of the suffocating neck hole. Kise gulped down air as his body sort of struggled against Kuroko's. They knocked knees and heads and teeth and laughed until Kise finally grabbed a hold of Kuroko's hips and finally steadied the two of them.

The sweater, despite its protests, had found itself accommodating Kise's height by nearly enveloping Kuroko's head. With Kise's arms sort of trapped in what felt like straight up straw, he just grinned down at Kuroko, whose arms were raised at an uncomfortably horizontal angle. The holes intended for arms were knit too high for his body. "It's the thought that counts," He said, simply.

Kise wrapped his arms around Kuroko, suddenly feeling hot and uncomfortable and itchy. He rubbed his nose into Kuroko's templer, rock-wobbling on the balls of his feet.

"This is too intense for me." Kuroko struggled, dipping down out of Kise's arms and out of the arms of the threadbare octopus sweater.

Kise shrugged it off too, unintentionally tossing it to the floor.

The two of them stared at it, haplessly.

"Was that…weird?" Kise asked his face burning from either potential allergic reaction or complete and total embarrassment. Of course it was weird. He knew it was weird. Kise did not know exactly why he could not control those giddy horse-limbs of his; he would leap at any chance to mildly embarrass Kuroko, especially if that meant jamming his thumbnails into the boy's hipbone.

Kuroko stared at him, "Yes."

"S-Sorry," Kise mumbled. "I…thought it would be funny?"

Kuroko did not say anything, he just moved past Kise, picking the sweater off the carpet.

Kise turned away, rolling his eyes at himself.

"You know what's even funnier?" Kuroko asked quietly.

"Huh?" Kise whirled around a little too desperately.

Kuroko held up the sweater, this time from a new angle, "Kise, there are four sleeves."

* * *

 _Inspired by an ugly-ass sweaters and good intentions._

 _xoxo_


	3. Scorpion

**Scorpion**

Throughout most of his young life, Kuroko had often been told he was hard to read.

Shortly after that, Kuroko decided to start being more blunt or direct with the things he felt and the things he wanted. It did not help that he was particularly and distressingly unnoticeable.

All of Kuroko's important people had different ways of expressing themselves. With his perceptive disposition, Kuroko had mastered the intrinsic ticks and tocks of the people around him.

Akashi had been the hardest to understand; Kuroko suspected he would never come to fully immerse himself in Akashi's space. But learning to pick up on the quick bursts of anger and the polite lip twitches of cold pride had to occur quickly, as if the reaction itself had to become second nature. Akashi held his emotions behind his eyes. Sensing malice before it struck became a way of life.

Murasakibara ate his feelings. He ate spicy chips when he was feeling snarky and confident. He chewed gum when he was hiding nervousness. Kuroko knew dark chocolate was patience and sensitivity. Murasakibara's palate was his subtle extended hand, his own subconscious expressionism. Kuroko was never afraid of hurting Murasakibara, as the giant's snack of choice was a non-confrontational flag.

Aomine and Kagami were too similar for their own liking. They carried themselves in their own bodies. Anger in their shoulders, disgust in their noses, anxiety in their fingers, passion in their lips. Learning them was a slow process, but Kuroko felt he had all the time in the world. His two other halves were parts of him he never wanted to live without; he wanted to keep counting the times Kagami's pencil tapped the desk as he read and re-read the question on the test. Kuroko wanted Aomine to smile at him with all his teeth and ruffle his hair even on days when he felt repulsed by his own skin.

Midorima never liked him. Kuroko never really tried to press friendship harder when it clearly was not wanted, but he wanted to take the parts of the other boy that he wanted for himself. He did not care for pretentious discipline, but Midorima had a desireable confidence and an empowering sense of self-preservation. It was the vocals that Kuroko wanted. Midorima had the ability to tell anyone exactly what he wanted and did not. Midorima used his words better than anyone Kuroko knew. He stood up for himself and there had been too many times in Kuroko's life when he had not done the same for himself.

* * *

"Please don't do that."

The painfully tight arms around Kuroko's chest loosened, but did not retreat. Kuroko was not comfortable with people hugging him, least of all those who he did not know very well. He said it simply, not intending to be rude or embarrassing or prude, in fact, breathing a sigh of relief and silently rewarding himself for speaking his mind. Kise did not know about his issues with constriction so it was not his fault for trying to be friendly. Kuroko hoped that one day he would be alright and let Kise hug him after a game.

The team was waiting for the train back to school, the orange of the sun slowly bleeding into the rest of the sky. Kuroko had been happily savoring the sweetness of his popsicle when Kise lunged at him, aggressive and playful while the rest of the team stood comfortably apart from each other.

Kuroko felt the palm on his collar bone and stopped breathing. Slowly, almost too slowly, Kise pulled back his arms. Kuroko turned around to explain—

Kise's eyes were like a stab in his side. The blond did not look wounded in the slightest. Kuroko did not understand the expression on Kise's face. Instead, Kuroko saw a languid disappointment in Kise's shoulders, he saw a crude harshness in his eyes, and he saw the blue stain of a popsicle concentrated in a particularly sharp crack in Kise's lips.

And yet, the words were: "I thought you would be glad they let you off the _bench_."

* * *

Despite Kise's endearing charisma, Kuroko learned that his team mate could be brutally determined and easily agitated. For all the patience Kise seemed to have when dealing with girls who followed him around and never listen to what he had to say, a broken shoelace could noticeably rile him; any offhanded comment was returned with a snap.

Kuroko had never once seen Kise be genuinely cruel. He wondered once if Kise even knew he had the ability to hit someone where it hurt the most. But then Kuroko took more notice of Kise's back-and-forths with Aomine, saw the sort of respect the two had for each other. Aomine bossed Kise around like he was a child who he knew would one day grow up to be someone important. Kise never lashed out, unprovoked. He only spit back something nasty if he felt somehow threatened.

Kuroko decided to push this to friendship. He wanted to keep standing up to Kise, so he could get stronger.

It was not until, halfway through the game that Kuroko was subbed in. Kise shrugged it off, but as Kuroko stood up, in one swift motion slapped his palm against Kise's unintentionally outstretched hand.

Kise nearly flinched but then Kuroko saw his own small smile on Kise's face.

* * *

 _Inspired by a horoscope._

 _Personally, I think writing Kise as sort of over-the-top whiny is super annoying and you can't deny that he has some bite to him._

 _xoxo_


	4. Kiss 1

**Kiss #1**

"Oh no," Kuroko said quietly. He gripped Nigou's collar and fidgeted at Kise. "Please get me the tweezer, Kise."

"What for?" Kise asked as he stacked their dishes in the sink.

"Nigou has a tick on his face."

"Gross…" Kise mumbled. He gave the bottle of soap a good squeeze over the plates and turned the hot water on before leaping across the kitchen, down the hall and into the bathroom.

"Glass cupboard above the sink!" Kuroko shouted.

Kise took a second to check himself in the mirror; he ran his fingers through his hair and wrinkled his nose before opening the cupboard and taking out the small silver tweezer. He reached up and plucked a stray piece of hair from between his eyebrows before he heard Kuroko call from the kitchen.

When he came back, Kise saw Kuroko doing his best to calm down the small, frustrated dog. "Please hold still. It will all be over and a minute." Kise smiled at the other boy, trying to sooth the dog with soft whispers and delicate touches. He watched for too long as Kuroko's nervous blue eyes shot up at him. "There is a lighter in the drawer under the sink. We have to sanitize them first."

"Oh—right, yeah, yeah." Kise hastily pulled the drawer open, hearing the silverware smash against each other. He fumbled through the stuff he had only seen in his sister's cooking catalogues. Finally he spotted a red lighter, took it out and stared dumbly back at Kuroko.

"Thirty seconds? I think that's long enough?"

"You've never done this before?"

"I've never had a dog before."

Kise smiled down at Kuroko, arms and legs wrapped around a very confused dog with the same eyes. "Yeah, that'll be enough."

Kise flicked the lighter to life and held the flame along the sharp end of the tweezer. He saw the metal turn blackish and then wiped it on his shirt, which was probably not a great idea but Kuroko was not watching. Kise dragged the garbage can across the kitchen and kneeled down next to Kuroko. Nigou looked up, finally getting uneasy. "Ok, you grab his face and point to it and I'll grab it."

Kuroko's knees locked down on the dog as he ran his fingers around the dog's ears, hushing softly. He pulled at the side of Nigou's face, gently prodding the skin under the dog's eye, "See it?"

Kise held his breath and nodded. His fingers only shook a little bit as he inched the tweezer closer to the little dog's face. That's when Nigou seemed to realize what was going on and let out a whine, trying to wriggle back out of Kuroko's grip. Kise stuck his right leg out, his left knee now almost jabbing into Kuroko's thigh. Letting out a breath, Kise leaned in, securing the bug in the tweezers. He gave a sharp twist, and the bug popped off before hurling it into the garbage can.

Heaving a sigh Kuroko dropped his arms and Nigou jumped free, giving the two a grudging and undignified look before trotting off into the living room. Kise relaxed too, dropping his left hand into Kuroko's lap and smiling. He saw Kuroko eye the thumb on his knee and gather the concentration in his forehead.

"Hey, Kuroko…can I kiss you?"

Kise wanted to hold his breath in the silence but suddenly he felt like he was panting as bad as the dog had been.

Kuroko straightened up, bracing himself on his palms, "Yeah…um…" he nodded, eyes falling shut as Kise felt his shoulders cave in—

And the sound of water hitting the ground was like a shock down Kise's spine.

The two boys jumped up, almost tripping over each other to get to the overflowing sink. Kise slid into the sink before too much water pooled across the floor. Kuroko stood next to him as they stared into the abundant soap castle. Slowly Kuroko reached into the foam, scooping a bit onto his finger and standing on his toes to dot Kise's cheek.

Kise froze, for too long probably, as Kuroko grabbed a dish towel and started on the drying rack.

The two did the dishes in silence, the only sounds were Kise's intensely awkward scrubbing, and Kuroko's vigorous, squeaky drying.

As Kise made it to the bottom of the sink, his hands were covered in white pearls. He watched them drip from his fingers, almost hopelessly. He turned to the boy with blue hair, "Yeah?" he asked quietly.

"What?"

Kise leaned in, wet hands on Kuroko's cheeks. The second soap fell from his wrist to Kuroko's collar bone they both met halfway. Kuroko let out a weak sigh through his nose. As Kise pulled back, moving his hands to the other boy's neck, soap falling down the front of Kuroko's shirt.

Kise grinned, resting his forehead on Kuroko's; "Sorry," He giggled.

Kuroko cleared his throat, "Again, please."

Kise snorted, but closed the distance between them again, this time pushing Kuroko back just the slightest. Pushing against his lower lip a little harder, his thumbnail a bit too rough on Kuroko's neck.

Nigou barked at the door, impatiently and also a little triumphantly.

Kise flung a handful of soap across the room.

* * *

 _Inspired by the 3 ticks I pulled off my dog this week._

 _xoxo_


	5. Fingernails

**Fingernails**

Kise does not care for Kuroko very much the first time they meet.

Not only does Kuroko seem like barely a person, but what Kise _can_ see, is not much to write home about.

Even when Kise sees his captain brush his fingers over Kuroko's knuckle, he shrugs it off as a personal preference.

But it is not until Aomine, in all his side-smiling, shoulder-swaying glory, throws his arms around Kuroko and smiles and laughs that Kise thinks he might have been mistaken.

"Are Captain and Kuroko a, ah, thing?"

Aomine stares at Kise for a few solid seconds, his mouth around a hamburger before unfreezing his limbs and dismissing the idea. "There is no use in getting into it. Akashi is hard to read and if he hears you talking shit—s'not worth it." His focus returns to the hamburger.

"I like both," Kise says suddenly.

"You don't mean Akashi _and_ Tetsu?"

"Girls and boys."

Aomine shook his head, "You do you, bro."

Kise smiles his first real smile in a long time.

* * *

Kise cannot help himself. Aomine is the only one who he can talk to, so the poor guy gets to hear all of Kise's nervous verbal ticks and his small, unfinished stories; even the things he says that he later regrets, the sharp judgements about people, the offhanded, unnecessary flack.

"Girls are so _soft_."

Aomine hummed in agreement while he cleaned off his muddy sneakers.

"And they always smell good—you realize that?"

"Uh-huh."

"But guys just have really big hands, which I'm kinda into."

Aomine is just listening, but Kise still feels warm in his chest.

* * *

It suddenly becomes obvious that something has changed within Akashi, and by painful extension, Kuroko.

Kuroko accidently and maybe unintentionally reaches out to Kise, in one moment asking him a question he does not want to know the answer to.

"Are we friends?"

* * *

The sun is too hot. Aomine cannot believe that after all this time, he cannot believe just how _hot_ it gets, popsicles and all. His gums are stinging with cold but he can feel the skin on his shoulders peel with every full inhale. Especially the sigh he lets out as he watches Kise's eyes follow a single drop of sweat as it made its way from Kuroko's temple to his jaw.

"Hey," Aomine barks as he aggressively but lazily nods at Kuroko. He holds his hand up, palms towards the small boy.

Kuroko blinks at the hand, then looks at Kise to make sure he is not missing some kind of joke.

He is.

Kuroko reaches up with his own right hand, now palm-to-palm with Aomine, who is practically glaring at him across the dangerously chipped picnic table.

Now Kise feels like he is missing some kind of joke.

"You're like one of those church kids who get their balls chopped off to be able to sing."

Kuroko withdraws his hand and shrugs, his attention falling back on his quickly-melting popsicle.

Kise is back in on the joke, he realizes as Aomine gives him a harsh, taunting stare. "Me too!" Kise grins, holding up his hand to Kuroko, who, reasonably, looks at it suspiciously.

Kise can not help but notice the hesitation in Kuroko's movement. He smils to himself as Kuroko's fingers twitch a bit before he presses them into Kise's.

Aomine rolls his eyes.

Kise's heart almost jumps out of his mouth as he grips Kuroko's fingers. "Your hands are so small!"

The next time Kise sees Kuroko's hands, a fingernail is missing.

* * *

Kise does not answer Kuroko's question right away. His concept of friendship is a little bit warped. He thanks the modeling industry for that. All friends are rivals but not all rivals are friends. It is sometimes a hard distinction for Kise to make, but not this one. When he looks at Kuroko, he sees someone who does not want anything form him except his best.

"Of course we're friends, Kurokocchi!"

* * *

 _So I guess "interconnected" refers to themes that sort of follow this pair throughout their lives. It's also fun to write and makes me feel sneaky._

 _I'm still not on board with Akashi so I'm not sure how he is gonna end up._

 _Review if you want but also because I want you to._

 _xoxo_


	6. Alexandria

**Alexandria**

Despite Kuroko's constant reminders of his distaste for close spaces, Kise hovered. It didn't matter what they were doing: grocery shopping, doing homework, playing ball, cooking, walking the dog, cleaning, brushing their teeth, jogging, window shopping, swimming…so it goes. Maybe it had to do with Kise's ability to assess entire situations in a matter of seconds, so easily that he grew bored of his environmental stimuli quicker than most. Whatever it was, when Kise was done, he hovered.

He stood in Kuroko's way at the grocery store, he looked over Kuroko's shoulder while he did homework, he was in Kuroko's way when he tried to dribble, he got elbowed for leaning so close while Kuroko chopped carrots, he bumped into both Kuroko and Nigou while they walked, he sneezed on Kuroko while they cleaned the dust off a shelf, he knocked shoulders with Kuroko when they both spit out their toothpaste at the same time, he ran Kuroko off the sidewalk on the daily, both his and Kuroko's breath fogged up those windows, and Kuroko would prefer stepping on a fish than being stepped _on_ while splashing in the frigid ocean.

It would be endearing if it was just a desire for closeness, Kuroko often thought. But even that, he figured, would get old after a while. No, it was more likely that Kise's hovering was an attempt to subtly move Kuroko onto something else; it was his way of saying _I'm done now, let's go_ with his body.

 _I'm done now, let's go_ , Kise didn't say as he hovered over Kuroko in the back of the old bookstore, as he repeatedly sniffled at the dust that had collected on every surface.

It was summer break, and after some off-handed comment from Hyuuga about how he didn't have time to read for pleasure anymore, Kuroko decided to find a book to devote his time to. He didn't think Kise had much time to read either, stretched as thin as he was, especially during a photo shoot-filled summer. But he also should have known better.

"I'm going to be a while longer," Kuroko said under his breath. He realized he didn't have to be so quiet, this was a bookstore and not a library after all, it was probably just a habit.

Kise just sighed.

Kuroko took a moment to imagine Kise at the beginning of time, hovering over his common ancestor as it discovered fire.

"I think I want a collection of short stories," Kuroko said, a suggested peace offering. When Kise contributed nothing, Kuroko moved down the aisle, scanning the titles and authors for anything that looked interesting. Kise followed. "Horror is a gamble, especially if it's a translation," Kuroko said, hoping to fill the silence with anything that wasn't Kise's sudden nasal congestion. "I don't care for science fiction or romance or…" He paused, for a moment, he was worried that Kise might take offense. But instead of going down that path, he plucked a book from the shelf. "A collection of historical fiction pieces…" He had never seen something like that before. Kuroko even almost apologized for making Kise wait, but then decided against it.

"I didn't know you liked books," Kise said in a tone that didn't fit with passive aggression.

"Oh," Kuroko managed. "Well, I haven't read a book in a while—well, one that I really wanted to…It doesn't help that I'm kind of a book snob."

"You couldn't be a snob if you tried."

Kuroko chuckled before he saw the look on Kise's face. This was definitely not part of the hover act. Kise looked…both frustrated and exasperated. "What's wrong?"

Kise shifted, almost uncomfortably, so he was leaning against the bookshelf. "I don't wanna _not_ be around this summer." He wasn't looking at Kuroko anymore. "I wanna hang with you and Aominecchi and Kagami…and just _do_ stuff. I haven't had a summer off in like, three years."

"I'm not gonna tell you to stay," Kuroko said. "You like modeling, you're making money…" He reached out, feeling bold in the dimly-lit bookstore, normally invisible dust floating all around them and pulled Kise's hand out of his pocket. "But if it's this summer, or next summer, or ten summers from now, I'll still miss you. This one doesn't matter in the scheme of things, I guess."

Kuroko moved closer, folding Kise's fingers into his own.

"I'm sorry, that probably doesn't help."

Kuroko's book hit the floor as Kise wrapped his arms around him, anxious and aggressive at the same time. Kise sort of dug in his arms, one hand around Kuroko's shoulder blade and the other in his hair. Kuroko didn't like Kise holding him like a large baby but he let it happen anyway.

It didn't solve the hovering mystery but Kuroko figured that was something else entirely.

* * *

 _I'm a super book snob._

 _I'm also slowly getting the hand of writing Kise but it is still agonizing and awful._

 _xoxo_


	7. Imagine

**Imagine**

"You don't have to do this," Kuroko says for the third time; but who's counting?

Kise is counting. He tries to comfortably cradle the grocery basket in the crook of his arm. "Someone has to look out for you while your parents are away. You'd probably just eat shitty oatmeal for breakfast, lunch and dinner."

"I like oatmeal…" Kuroko mumbles before turning to examine the varieties of refrigerated cheese.

Kise meanders down the aisle, entirely unsure of what food to get. He had jumped before looking, and now he felt Kuroko's disinterested and uncomfortable vibe from down the aisle. Kuroko is still stuck on the cheese.

"Well," Kise sort of suggests weakly before coughing, "what do you normally like to eat? What do your parents make?"

Kuroko pulls open the glass door and takes out some shredded cheese. "Kagami makes really good omelets."

Of course Kagami makes perfect omelets. Kise has to physically stop himself from sneering at the frozen peas. "I'll just copy his omelet cooking style."

"That's not necessary."

Suddenly Kuroko is standing next to him, eyeing some microwavable waffles.

Kise knows he doesn't have a right to be here, to try and weasel his way back into Kuroko's life. They hadn't seen each other since the practice match, and if it weren't for the nauseating guilt that had been following Kise since the Championship game, he is sure he wouldn't even be here.

Kise stares at his own reflection in the glass for a second before burying it, covering it up with a grin and hoping Kuroko doesn't see. "Imagine this…" He reaches out, covering Kuroko's confused eyes with his palms. "Are you imagining?"

"Imagining what?"

"Imagine…" Kise pulls his hands away, "pancakes for dinner."

They both stand still for a solid ten seconds. Kise can't allow himself to breathe before Kuroko does. Kuroko is impossible to read and he would rather have a personal cooking lesson with Kagami than have to tell Kuroko all the things he wants to apologize for.

Kise thinks maybe Kuroko gets it, because the boy steps back, shrugging.

"We'll need chocolate chips then."

* * *

 _Writing Kise is getting more and more fun. He is such an interesting character._

 _xoxo_


End file.
